TOWN WATER.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12950, 15 May 1935, Page 3

TOWN WATER.

SUPPLEMENTARY SUPPLY.

WORK AT THE BOROUGH WELL.

| DEEPENING SUCCESSFUL*.

The position with regard to the supplementary well water supply was disclosed at Monday night’s Borough Council meeting. The well is being deepened and widened 2n order to tap a greater flow, and so far satisfactory results have been obtained. Permanent work is likely to be carried out at the well site costing several hundred pounds. The medical officer for the Department of Health in this district, Mr F. S. Maclean, wrote tinder date April Bth as follows to the Council: “L understand that the new well lias not fulfilled expectations, and that certain work is contemplated with the object of increasing the amount of water available. The proposal to excavate at a short distance from the well and construct a concrete wall may or may not achieve the purpose desired, but it will certainly endanger the sanitary quality of the water, and for this reason must be condemned. •J might point out that I was unfavourably impressed with the site chosen for the well, and only ■agreed to its use provided it was properly constructed so as to exclude any possibility of surface water contamination. • If now the ground is to be opened up in the neighbourhood of the well a definite new risk is introduced, and the correct structure of the well will go for nothing. As soon as pumping is under wav water will be drawn in from every direction, and included with it will be a certain quantity of surface water which would find its way down the near side of the concrete wall. f T would remind you that my services are always available to your Council in an advisory capacity, and. if I am kept well informed regarding their proposals, expenditure on work which may later have to be abandoned on sanitary grounds will be avoided.’’ OK THE SAFE SIDE. Under date April 27 th the civil engineer, Mr H. F. Toogood, of Mellington. wrote : “Following upon our conversation by telephone to-day, I was fortunate enough to find Dr. Maclean in his office. The District Medical Officer of Health acts to some extentin an advisory capacity, but nevertheless powers are vested in him to compel safeguards to be taken in connection with public health. •With regard to the present instance Dr. Maclean wishes to make sure no surface pollution will find its way into the springs you are now deyebbing, and if he is assured of this he has no objection to the supply. “I am definitely of the opinion that surface pollution can be excluded, and with this understanding he has no objections to raise regarding the springs as municipal supply. "' I therefore believe you are perfectly safe in determining the capacity of the springs in the manner proposed.” IXSPECTOR’S SANCTION . And further- to this the medical officer wrote the Council on April 27 th as follows: "Mr Toogood, your consulting engineer, has communicated with me regarding the proposals for augmenting your water supply. I have advised him that provided the work is completed in such a way as to exclude any possibility of surface water gaining access to the supply, no objection will be raised by this Department to the source of supply.” PUMPING OPERATIONS. Mr Toogood also wrote as under on Axmil 18th : "Following on my recent visit 1 wish to report as follows: “The capacity of the present pumj) may be reduced by closing down the valve on the outlet side of the pump. \YI ien closed six completed turns from full open the electric consumption was reduced to 23 amps, and under the increased head caused by closing the valve the amount of water pumped would be less. The valve could be still further closed until the consumption was about 18 amps. Closing the valve beyond a certain amount would increase the head beyond the sp* < d c apacity of the pump and the water would cease to flow. 'A few hours of running under proper observation would determine the amount of increase of head required to obtain a balance between inflow and output. ■fn any case, even if this cannot be exactly balanced, the times the pump starts and stops can be minimised by taking the steps outlined about. “With regard to augmenting; the flow (> s w ater the: s t e j>s-. : wh i ha ye Tv en taken by opetli|Pj£ >up; a y.eut. across the flow of the underground streams is quite sound, and the indications are that a further length S ll P warranted. The example of I ui Street springs is sufficient Fo indicate that the underground flow is not localised to one stream, and tliat if further water is required the length of cut across the probableold river bed should be increased V.lf the flow proves adeanate with ti-.~V vtended cut. it is probable that it MV to shift the well to the middle of the cut. but I would like to see the results of the work, and after continued pumping. before commenting further on this. “I am quite certain that surface pollution can be excluded from any or open cut. and T therefore advise going on with the work. It nicans so much to the Borough to obtain an adequate water supply at

this point that the risk of some wasted exjienditure is well worth while.

“If the supply of water at this point is adequate I have in mind a scheme of reasonable cost which, when extended, would serve for many years both for fire protection and domestic service.”

The Mayor (.Mr J. D. Wilson) said the water in the well was found to be not quite sufficient to keep the pump going continuously. The intake had now been regulated to enable the ipump to operate all night on the reduced flow in the pipe. Settlers in the vicinity had complained about the frequent stopping and starting of the motor when the \\ ater got down below the level of the intake. When the pump first started up each time it almost put the electric lights out for a moment. It had therefore been arranged to start the pump each night at ten o'clock instead of nine o’clock and it ran continuously for eight hours “throttled down." There had been no shortage of water since. The mechanical shovel of the main road contractors had- been utilised to excavate and widen and deepen the well further at each end. As far as could be seen this had resulted in a further supply of water being brought into the well. It was hoped to get sufficient flow to keep the pump going at its full capacity Son- eight hours every night. Mr Toogoocl was coming to Pahiatua on Wednesday to give an estimate for the work required to make a permanent job giving an increased supply. XO CREDIT DDE? Statements had been made, said the Mayer, crediting Mr G. H. Hodd with originating the supplementary water supply. This was not so. Mr Hodd, as a Councillor, had brought forward a resolution that the Council obtain the services of a geologist with the idea of discovering artesian water for the Pahiatua. town supply, instancing its success in certain other places. The Council turned it down and let the matter rest. Then Mr •J. C. Davidson, afte.r he had retired from the Council, put forward the suggestion that the services of a water diviner be obtained to see if there was a suitable underground stream handy. He put a proposition to the speaker and it was carried out with the results now known. The supply was discovered as a result of Mr Davidson. Cr. J. E. Murphy: “Yes, that is so, Your Worship/” Cr. W. T. Brown: “Yes.” BTG EXPENDITURE SOON. The Mayor said that a considerable sum of money would require to be spent on the well to carryout the additional work. It would probably mean £70(1 to £BOO or perhaps £I,OOO. The idea was to widen and deepen the well and concrete the walls to make it into a kind of reservoir. Tt would have to be roofed over. It was a work that an engineer would have to take in hand. After Mr Toogood had inspected it he would submit to the Council an estimate of the cost of the work. The town, lie added, had not been short of water since the well wa_s put down. Cr. IN . T. Brown asked if a loan would ,have to be raised. The Mayor said it might be. It was a question of whether the district fund accounts and the rates would provide sufficient monev to do the work. SHOULD BE PUSHED ON. , Or. F. Britland asked if the work Would be held up till another meeting of the Council. The Mayor said that a special meeting of the Council could be called if necessary. Cr. J. E. Murphy said he thought that all councillors would he favour of pushing the matter through. Cr. Britland suggested that the matter be left to the works committee with power to act. It was the quickest way of pushing on with the work. The Mayor considered that if it was a matter of only another £SOO or £6OO the Council should go on with it, even if the'y had to use a bank overdraft. Cr. Murphy said that if a special meeting of the Council could be called in 24 hours that would cope with any emergency which arose. FIRST MAKE SURE, Cr. T.. XV. Watts sa.id if the Council was going to spend a lot of money on the site they should be certain that the water was there' in the summer months when it was most needed. Cr. Britland: “Do you want to wait until next summer?’ 1 Or. Watts: “No, just make sure of the supply.” The Mayor said the water was. there last summer, the driest for many years. PEOPLE IN DOUBT. Or. W. A. Carthew said lie had never been able to find out what exactly was the position with regard to the supplementary watersupply. In the minds of a lot of ratepayers the whole scheme was doubtful as to its success but the Mayor was now positive on the subject and that being so the scheme should be pushed on. They could not wait until next summer but he considered that they should be absolutely positive the water was there. The present fear amongst the townspeople was that the water was not there in sufficient quantity. MA YOR’S RE-ASSURANCE. The Mayor said that was a mistake. There was a tremendous flow once when two pumps could not keep it down and three just managed to do so. The supply subsequently diminished to the point where it gave 40,000 gallons only each night but that provided all the water that was needed for orclinarv purposes. But with the growth of Pahiatua thev did not want to stop at that. trench had since been dug inside the fence and a strong flow of water was obtained which three numps could not empty on Saturday.

He was certain that there would be plenty o, water if they dug out a reservoir to impound the water in tile day for to be pumped into the mains lit night. C<r. Cart hew said that that was a very ire assuring statement and he trusted that due publicity would be given to it. As some of the ‘'new blood” on tiie Council he had voiced his opinion as representing the reelings of some of the townspeople who were in doubt about the success of the new well. The proposed work would cost a bit ol money but it would still be a cheap proposition. On the motion of the Mayor, seconded by Cr. Carthew, it was decided that Mr Toogood be instructed to draw up plans and specifications for the proposed extension at the well, give an estimate ot the cost of a reservoir at the site and report at his earliest convenience to the Council.